Many millions of households have handguns for personal protection, and on most of these households the guns are loaded for instant use. These loaded guns present a major safety problem if there are children in the home or if there are likely to be child visitors. The natural curiosity of children leads them to explore the various dressers, drawers, night stands, and other places where loaded guns are frequently kept. The novelty of a real gun is often overwhelming, and children point these guns at each other or at other persons, frequently with tragic results.
Because of the hazards of children, many gun owners seek to immobilize the gun with locks of various types. These generally take the form of a covering for the trigger of the handgun. While such locks are effective, they reduce the protective potential of the various revolvers and automatics because they must be unlocked with a key. In the dark of night, the key must be located, and preferably it must be kept in a separate drawer or piece of furniture than the gun. The key must be fitted, in the dark into the lock and the lock must be removed before the gun is available for use. This cumbersome unlocking procedure has caused many people to forego the safety of a lock and risk the hazards of accidents with children.
In the past, various types of safety covers for trigger guard assemblies have been devised as a safety precaution for preventing the accidental discharge of "unloaded firearms". Most of these types of safety covers have included the provision of a cover assembly hingedly or at least swingably mounted to the firearm. Not only does a hingedly mounted trigger guard hinder a person when firing the firearm, but it also has a tendency to cause the person contemplating using the firearm to maintain the safety cover in an open position so that the trigger of the firearm may be readily accessible should he desire to discharge the firearm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,842, issued on Apr. 17, 1990, to the present inventor, describes a protective device for the trigger guard of a gun. This protective device comprises a first plate member, a second plate member, a first arm that is connected to the first plate member, a second arm connected to the second plate member, and a spring arranged between the first arm and the second arm for resisting at least 25 pounds of compressive force. A plurality of pins are affixed between each of the plate members so as to extend in appropriate locations within the trigger guard of a gun. The compression spring is a tensioned steel strut of arcuate form extending between the first arm and the second arm. In use, when an adult desired to use the gun, the necessary compressive force was exerted on the arms of the protective device so as to separate the plate members from about the trigger guard of the gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,221 discloses a type of device that has a housing which is fitted over the trigger guard of a gun. This housing engages the trigger guard so that it cannot be removed except by overcoming the strength of a spring. The housing effectively prevents access to the trigger and thereby prevents accidental firing of the gun. This device, however, is a relatively complicated apparatus to manufacture. There are various components for this device. As a result, the cost of manufacturing this product is quite high and as a result the cost to the consumer is also high.
U.S Pat. No. 3,022,596, issued to C. H. Cannon on Feb. 27, 1962, describes a rubber trigger guard that has lugs on the inside area. These lugs help to grip the trigger and act as a flexible guard for the trigger area. In order to remove this safety device, it is necessary to squeeze the guard. Unfortunately, however, the configuration of this device can be removed by children. This device is also manufactured and sized for specific types of trigger guards and is not applicable to a wide variety of applications.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective device for the trigger guard of a gun that effectively prevents removal by children.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a protective device for trigger guards that is relatively inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a protective device for the trigger guard of a gun that is adaptable to a wide variety of gun sizes, types, and trigger guard shapes.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a protective device for a trigger guard that can be quickly and safely removed by adults in times of emergency.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a protective device for the trigger guard of a gun that includes a secondary lock mechanism as an additional safeguard.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.